Letters from Suva

from w
Received some letters from Suva this afternoon. Edited slightly!
Dear Wendy
Jordan says bula sia to you grandma while Andrew is playing game in the playstation. G. took me to Church this morning before 10 am, while on his way to work. The Australian Fiji Parish Choir more than 60, plus members from Melbourne led by Rev Iliasa Naivalu, more than 10 were there. The American group were there also so after the service they gave us a beautiful magiti dinner at Epworth Hall........ Loloma. Peceli.

From J.
Dear grandma,we went to the Hibiscus Festival last night and we ate Hamburgers and Hot dogs and the food was so delicious.We went in some rides last night and it was fun. We saw some of Grandpa`s old friends.

Miri`s wedding was good and some of the people from Labasa had to come and they brought some mats and some other stuff too. The wedding was held in village called Naivucini. The village is in Naitasiri. When we reached there they set breakfast for us. We had pie,bread,scones etc. The road was dusty and bumpy. We saw big rivers. We went to the church and had the wedding service. The weddng was great everybody had to shake their hand when it was over. Bubu Miri and Bubu Luisa was there in the wedding they danced and danced when they were coming back from the service.
Your sincearly,
J.
From A.
Dear Grandma ,we went to the hibiscus festival yesterday with Grandpa, Wendy, Dada and J. We bought hot dogs and hamburger. We went on the swing. in the marygoround.
Vinaka
A.

Hibiscus Festival and the Museum

from w

Today it was a bit rainy but rather than the kids stay in the flat at Namadi to play video games and cards, I offered to take them to the Hibiscus Festival - each of us wearing raincoats and carrying a big brown umbrella. Not that it was raining heavy. The $5 taxi ride seemed reasonable to as far as Government Buildings where we had arranged to wait for my son’s lunch break. We waited outside the Suva Court with the nicely dressed people coming and going and my grandkids lolling about. (Two actual grandsons, the others children of my niece so I was Grandma to all of them – Mereoni, 13, Elijah, 10, Jordan 11, Andrew 9. We bought roti and curry parcels and hamburgers for lunch. The stalls looked very elegant as blue and white (I think) strong tents and of course the kids wanted to quickly go on the rides – ferris wheel – there were at least three of them, octopus, sizzler, roller-coaster, etc. $2 a ride and a few free ones. They were allowed only one ride each. Albert Park looked neat and tidy and there was a small crowd.

My plan was mainly to take them to the Museum (the old teacher streak in me surfacing) and I found a neat clean toilet at the entrance to Thurston Gardens. The kids were well-behaved and attentive in the Museum and very talkative about the historical and cultural items. I went into ‘know-all’ teacher mode. The kids had only been there once before they told me. Some other time I’ll try and go back to draw some of the items. There was also a room full of contemporary women’s costumes made from masi and art exhibition of watercolours was interesting. The Museum has a website.

Then we returned to Albert Park for another ride and the crowd was getting bigger. By 3 p.m. Grandma was tired so we got taxi back to our ‘home’. The Fiji Museum has an excellent website.

Meanwhile Peceli spent the morning at the Methodist Conference at Centenary Church then Furnival Park with the choir competition and stalls, meeting many old friends and some new ones. One group generously gave him some cultural artifacts from Nadroga which is a precious gift.

School holidays start early in Fiji

from w
So school holidays have been put forward two weeks because of the teachers' strike. As a consequence Hibiscus Festival will open earlier than planned so the kids can go along. So then, what is happening with the opening of the Methodist Church Conference? Will that be put forward so that choirs can join in their competition with full membership? Every move has a consequence doesn't it... The cartoon comes from the Fiji Times.